REG - Midwich Group PLC - AGM Statement

MidwichAnnouncement

14/05/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 2469O  Midwich Group PLC  14 May 2024

14 May 2024

 

Midwich Group plc

("Midwich" or the "Group")

 

AGM Statement

 

Midwich Group (AIM: MIDW), a global specialist audio visual ("AV")
distributor to the trade market, will hold its Annual General Meeting
at 10.00am today at the Group's head office in Diss.

 

At the meeting Andrew Herbert, Chairman, will make the following statement:

 

"Midwich once again made significant strategic progress in 2023, including
delivering record financial results, entry into the Canadian market,
completion of seven acquisitions and further development of our leadership
team. Against a challenging market backdrop, the Group's focus on value-added
technical solutions resulted in significant margin improvements and further
market share gains in our biggest regions.

 

However, the challenging market conditions seen last year have continued into
2024, especially in the UK & Ireland, where our business has experienced a
mid-single digit decline in organic revenue year to date, despite achieving
record market share with many of our key vendors.

 

Group organic revenue for the first four months of the financial year is in
line with the prior year, which is below the Board's earlier expectations, as
the persistence of elevated interest rates has deferred purchasing decisions
and market recovery. The Board believes it is now prudent to assume trading
conditions in certain markets, such as the UK & Ireland, will likely
remain challenging for the rest of 2024. We now expect adjusted operating
profit for the full year to be broadly in line with that achieved in 2023.

 

Midwich remains well positioned as the leading global specialist Pro AV
distributor, with our £1.3bn revenue in 2023 representing less than 1% of the
global market and 3-4% of our target addressable market.

 

We are pleased with recent strategic progress in further diversifying our
geographic footprint and technical solutions. The seven acquisitions made
during the last financial year, all have integrated well and are trading
in-line with expectations.

 

Over the coming years, we anticipate there being significant opportunities to
continue growing faster than the overall market, both organically and through
acquisition and we remain excited by the long-term prospects for the
business."

 

Midwich intends to announce a trading update for the six months to 30 June
2024 on 18 July 2024.

 

For further information:

 

 Midwich Group plc                                       +44 (0) 1379 649200
 Stephen Fenby, Managing Director
 Stephen Lamb, Finance Director
 Investec Bank plc (NOMAD and Joint Broker to Midwich)   +44 (0) 20 7597 5970

 Carlton Nelson / Ben Griffiths

 Berenberg (Joint Broker to Midwich)                     +44 (0) 20 3207 7800
 Ben Wright / Richard Andrews
 FTI Consulting                                                +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
 Alex Beagley / Tom Hufton / Matthew Young

                                                         midwich@fticonsulting.com (mailto:midwich@fticonsulting.com)

About Midwich Group

 

Midwich Group is a specialist AV distributor, with operations in the UK and
Ireland, EMEA, Asia Pacific and North America. The Group's long-standing
relationships with over 800 vendors, including blue-chip organisations,
support a comprehensive product portfolio across major audio visual categories
such as displays, projectors, technical AV, broadcast, professional audio,
lighting and unified communications. The Group operates as the sole or largest
in-country distributor for a number of its vendors in their respective product
sets.

 

The Directors attribute this position to the Group's technical expertise,
extensive product knowledge and strong customer service offering built up over
a number of years. The Group has a large and diverse base of over 24,000 trade
customers, most of which are professional AV integrators and IT resellers
serving sectors such as corporate, education, retail, residential and
hospitality.

 

Initially a UK only distributor, the Group now has approximately 1,900
employees across the UK and Ireland, EMEA, North America and Asia Pacific. A
core component of the Group's growth strategy is further expansion of its
international operations and footprint into strategically targeted
jurisdictions.

 

For further information, please visit www.midwichgroupplc.com
(http://www.midwichgroupplc.com/)

 

 

 

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